Although this is a blog attached to my webstore “Belly Tickles”, it’s not very often I post actual designs and samples of my work! I’m sure that might be a lil’ odd but this blog is really meant to be a personal but general blog…life, work, design, kids, family…anything and everything with no limitations! There are actual people behind every business and I have always considered myself to be transparent. I will never hide behind my business front and pretend I’m something I’m not.

Having said all of that…today I have pictures of actual products! lol. These items were for some great customers of mine so I covered their personal information, like their address and name if both their last and first are on the design. I enjoy creating and many customers think outside the box and want to add or alter my original design and I LOVE that! I love taking my base design and vamping it up to customer tastes and delights! I encourage everyone to do that! There might be small custom fees for designs that are from scratch but usually I don’t charge for minor add ons and changes…now that does depend on the design. Some designs are listed at $4.95/per glossy sheet, down from my higher (yet fair) price of $6.85/per glossy sheet. Those designs are meant to be quick proof, quick approval, print and ship….QUICK. So, I don’t usually allow or prefer (since allow seems strong), to change the colors. Texts and text color changes are no problem however.

In the photos below, I also include my first large garden harvest of my tomatoes! LOVE them! So delicious!!

I love and miss you mama, bunches and bunches. You were and still are my heart…XOXO. 

I’ve really enjoyed tending to my garden and I was finally able to taste the fruit of my labor, so to speak! I picked my first batch of green tomatoes (maters as we call ‘em here in my parts ! Up to this point, I’ve never made or tasted fried green tomatoes and b/c of the classic movie, I just had to, at least one time! I took pictures before and during but forgot to take the after shots! lol. They were pretty good! My grease was too deep in my pan I think but they still turned out pretty tasty! Next time, I’ll put some additional flavorin’ in the mixture.

We celebrated dad’s 68th birthday on June 9th. It was weird not having my mom with us to celebrate and I did my best to make a yellow/chocolate icing with nuts cake like mom did. For the actual birthday, we stayed home and I made dinner just for us. We had a formal birthday outing a few days later and I invited other family and friends to join us and dad seemed to enjoy the company. He doens’t talk too much and he had his chocolates before his meal (something he never would have done, pre-Alzheimer’s) but he LOVES going out to eat so it was fitting to do that for his birthday celebration! I also post a pic of my first “ready to eat” garden pickins’! I was so excited!!

I love and miss you mama, bunches and bunches. You were and still are my heart…XOXO. 

My son Austin had his class party today at Sonic! It was super duper HOT out! Yucky icky hot! His teachers are great! They created a photo/art memory book that had pictures of Austin and some of his art and it was laminated and bound. I think that’s super special and a definite keepsake for years to come! I kept all of his work since this was his first school semester- he started in January and I think I’m going to add some of my own pictures and his art to the memory book. It’s a great idea to do every year, to hi-lite the year for him.

We took our English Bulldog puppy, Duke, to meet the classmates and he had a blast! The kids, parents and teachers gave him tons of attention and he ate it up! We couldn’t keep him out long though so my hubby took him back home after about 15 minutes of fun- it was too hot for Duke!

Below are some pics of the fun day!

I love and miss you mama, bunches and bunches. You were and still are my heart…XOXO. 

I have thoroughly enjoyed working in my garden. My tomato plants are over 4 feet tall already! I’m super excited to see how they turn out!! Things with the house have slowed down once again and my frustration has grown. I really want to finish b/c it’s difficult sharing your home with workers and not having a laundry room or heating/air system other than small temporary aides. It’s helped me appreciate and be thankful of the modern conveniences I often took for granted, that’s for sure!  My oldest son will be finishing up pre-school this week! He only started in January but I can tell a huge difference in him and he loves school. I’m ready for life to be normal for the boys again too. They’ve been living in a huge mess since we’ve been doing the home addition/renovation. Below are some garden pics I’d like to share!!

I love and miss you mama, bunches and bunches. You were and still are my heart…XOXO. 

We got an English Bulldog puppy! Hubby has wanted one for years and we finally decided to get one. The boys love him, e/c when he jumps on them, but they think he’s funny!

Here are some pics of the cutie pie:

I love and miss you mama, bunches and bunches. You were and still are my heart…XOXO.